Nursery Rhymes Are Murder
by Randomonium
Summary: Oh, isn’t life wonderful, isn’t life cruel. If you’re not careful, she’ll play you for a fool. Summary might change later on ShikaTema; AU; rated for imagery and future chapters.
1. Prologue

**.::Nursery Rhymes Are Murder::.**

**.Prologue.**

_Rock A Bye Baby_

_On the tree top_

_When the wind blows_

_The cradle will rock_

_When the bough breaks_

_The cradle will fall_

_Down will come baby_

_Cradle and All_

And the silence was shattered by a mother's piercing scream.

.

.

.

.

"_My baby! Somebody help my baby!"_

.

.

.

.

Oh, isn't life wonderful, isn't life cruel.

If you're not careful, she'll play you for a fool.

-TBC-

**A/N: I really shouldn't be starting another story (yet another one!) and especially not one like this. I'm an idiot. But I want to do this. So I'll work it out somehow.**

**Next chapter should be coming soon, and then you'll find out what happened. =P**

**Please review, if you want. There's not exactly much to review right now, is there. **


	2. Unwelcome Call

**.Unwelcome Call.**

_Ring._

_Ring._

_Ring._

Shikamaru Nara groaned as the insistent ringing of his phone pulled him rudely from his sleep. He squinted in the dark, the bright screen a little _too _bright for him to make out caller ID instantly. His brow furrowed and he hit the answer button, bringing the phone to his ear.

"Kurenai?"

"Shikamaru. Shikamaru, you have to help me." His old mentor's wife's voice shook. She sounded as if she was crying. He pulled himself into a sitting position, not even noticing the cold air biting at his bare chest.

"Kurenai, what's wrong?"

"It's Asuka. My baby…" She broke off with a sob.

"Kurenai-" His phone beeped and he glanced at the screen. "Shit," he muttered and returned the phone to his ear. "Kurenai. Kurenai, listen to me, don't hang up, I've got work on the other line, don't hang up, okay? It'll take two seconds."

"You have to help me," she whispered and then proceeded to hang up.

"Shit," he swore. "Nara," he barked crisply into his phone, his mind consumed with worry about Kurenai.

"Lieutenant Nara, this is Dispatch. You've been requested on a case just called in. Please report to…" His heart sank into the pits of his stomach as the address was reeled off. He knew the address very well. It was Kurenai's home.

He was Homicide.

-TBC-

**A/N: Wow, I told you the next chapter would be coming soon ey? =P **

**Um yeah, so characters are going to be alive or dead as it's convenient for me. Right now, Asuma is dead. Haven't quite decided on the other characters- I'll get to them soon.**

**Okay, I know that this is another short chapter, but they will be getting longer, I promise. This is sort of Prologue part 2 except it's a chapter and not the prologue. But… uh… yeah. It will be getting longer.**

**I hope you're enjoying it so far (and not wondering WTF is going on, although that seems most likely) so please review and I'll try to get the next chapter up ASAP, maybe tomorrow? I hope I can stick with this story, I quite like it. **


	3. Promise Me

**.Promise Me.**

"Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck," Shikamaru swore vehemently as he threw his phone into the passenger seat after yet another failed call to Kurenai. She wasn't answering her phone.

He pulled up in front of Kurenai's house, his tires protesting loudly to his abuse of the brakes. He yanked on the door handle and cursed when it didn't open.

"Stupid piece of shit!" he exclaimed, kicking the offending object so that it flew open. He climbed out and slammed the door, glowering at the myriad of flashing red and blue lights that matched his own as if they'd done him personal insult.

He collared the nearest uniform. "Who's running the scene here?" he snapped.

"Uh… sir… I'm sorry, sir, but I can't allow you in here, it's a crime scene," the junior officer trotted out, initially taken aback by the tall, angry man.

"Lieutenant Shikamaru Nara, Homicide," Shikamaru growled, flashing his badge. "I've been tagged as primary. Now I'll ask you again: who's running the scene here?"

The frightened officer pointed shakily in the direction of a man Shikamaru recognized.

"Sarutobi!" he yelled. Konohamaru Sarutobi turned to Shikamaru with haunted eyes.

"Why aren't you in there?" Shikamaru asked, jerking his head towards the house. Whatever had happened, it obviously hadn't happened out in front.

"Why do you think, Nara?" Konohamaru hissed hollowly, "I may not have been particularly close to them, but they're still family. She was still my cousin, goddamnit."

Shikamaru's assumption was confirmed. Fuck.

"Asuka?" he whispered as a question, knowing the answer even as Konohamaru nodded. He closed his eyes and bit back the lump rising in his throat, forced down hot tears that stung at his eyelids. He had a job to do.

"Shit," he muttered softly. When he opened his eyes, they were steely and clear.

"Where's Kurenai?" he asked.

"In the lounge. She's broken," Konohamaru told him, looking quite shattered himself.

Shikamaru gave a nod in acknowledgement. He placed a reassuring hand on the younger man's shoulder. "Sorry for what I said earlier," he muttered and moved off before Konohamaru could respond.

He ducked under the police tape, ignoring anyone who tried to stop him and headed to the lounge. There he found Kurenai, as pale as a ghost except for swollen red eyes, a blank stare on her face and tear tracks on her cheeks.

"Kurenai," he said, announcing his presence. Her head turned and she noticed him for the first time.

"Shikamaru!" She made to stand up, but Shikamaru moved quickly and was next to her gently guiding her back to the couch in almost no time at all.

"Kurenai, sit down," he said.

"Shikamaru… she's dead… Asuka's gone…" Kurenai whispered, her lips trembling. "My baby girl's gone."

"Shh. I'm here. I'll help," Shikamaru tried to console her, patting her back as she cried into his shoulder.

"I know," she sobbed, "I know. Promise me, Shikamaru." She lifted her head to meet his eyes, her eyes ablaze. "Promise me you'll find the bastard that did this. Promise me you'll find him and make him suffer."

"Kurenai-"

"Promise me!"

He gave a nod. "I promise."

Her eyes fluttered closed and she looked drained. "Thank you," she breathed.

Shikamaru looked at her slumped on the couch and his heart broke. This woman really didn't deserve this. First Asuma, and now…

"Kurenai, I know this is hard, but please, you have to tell me if you remember anything out of the ordinary beforehand, what happened…" Shikamaru prompted gently, knowing that while this was necessary, he was also using it as an excuse, putting off going to look at the body.

Kurenai took a deep breath. "I know you need to do this. I'll try. Um… I don't remember anything out of the ordinary. I left the back door open, and Asuka… Asuka had fallen asleep on the couch. I… I had the radio on. Until… quite late. I don't know. I went to the kitchen at about… uh… about nine? Half past nine? I'm not sure. I wanted some coffee, so I went to the kitchen and left Asuka… I left her on the couch… the back door was open, but I didn't think… didn't imagine…"

"No-one would've thought, Kurenai," Shikamaru murmured. Kurenai nodded and gulped.

"I… I was out the room for maybe ten, fifteen minutes, I don't know. And when I came back, Asuka was gone. I put down my coffee and called for her, I think, and then I stepped outside, and… and…" A wave of fresh tears broke over her.

"It's okay, Kurenai, you don't have to go on," Shikamaru soothed. "Kurenai, you can't stay here tonight. Why don't you call someone? How about your friend… um… I can't remember her name… scary chick… very good friend of yours… oh come on… she's sleeping with a cop, Hatake. Kakashi. What's her name…"

Kurenai choked out an indistinguishable laugh. "Anko," she mumbled.

"Yes. Her. Should I call her for you?" Shikamaru offered.

"I don't… I… yes. Please."

"I'll call her now," Shikamaru reassured Kurenai, stood up and stepped outside the room (more putting off seeing the body). And then realised he didn't know Anko's number. Ah well, a small oversight.

He called the station.

"Lieutenant Nara. Could I please be transferred to Hatake."

"I'm sorry, I'm afraid Hatake is off duty right now."

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. Obviously, or Anko'd probably already be here. "Can I have his number?"

A minute or so later and he was back on the phone.

"Hello?" Finally.

"Kakashi, Shikamaru Nara here. Look, can I have- actually wait, is Anko there?"

"What's going on?" Kakashi asked, ignoring Shikamaru's question.

"Is Anko there?" Shikamaru repeated.

"Maybe."

"Can you give her the phone?"

"Why should I?"

Okay, so maybe ignoring Kakashi's question hadn't been the best idea. In his defence, Shikamaru didn't know the man could be so snarky.

"Give her the phone. It's Kurenai," he said shortly.

"Kurenai? What's wrong? What's happened?" Kakashi was instantly alert.

"Give Anko the damn phone!" Shikamaru exclaimed, getting rather annoyed with his colleague.

"Anko here. What's up?" a female voice said.

"Ah. Anko, it's Shikamaru Nara. There's been… can Kurenai stay with you for a few days? Please? I don't want her alone."

"Of course. What's happened? Something bad has happened, I can hear it." Anko's voice was worried.

"It's Asuka. She… she's been murdered," Shikamaru said softly. There was silence on the other end of the line.

"What?" Anko barely whispered it.

"Could you come to her house and pick her up?" Shikamaru asked.

"I'll… I'll be there now. Oh my god. I'll be right there."

"Thank you." Shikamaru hung up. He ran his hand over his face and sighed. He didn't want to do this. But he had to, so he moved towards the back door.

As soon as he got outside, he clenched his eyes shut momentarily. When he opened them again he was able to take in the scene properly. There weren't many cops around- he reckoned they hadn't been able to stomach it. It's not that the scene was particularly gruesome, it was more that the victim was one so… young.

Asuka's first birthday had been the week before.

"Did Kurenai touch her?" he asked an officer. He nodded.

"Yes, but just to check if she was alive. When it was confirmed she was dead, Mrs. Sarutobi backed off, knowing the procedure."

Shikamaru nodded, lost in thought. It must have been hard, to leave her child there. To not move her.

The trees towered above the garden. Below the tallest one lay a small, broken body with blood seeping out from beneath her. When Shikamaru got closer he noticed that she lay on a broken wicker cradle. He assumed that the shards of wicker cradle were what had pierced her skin, releasing the blood.

Blood trickled from her mouth and there was a bone- probably a rib bone- sticking out from her torso. A branch lay just above her.

Shikamaru sighed and went to put on gloves. He couldn't stand seeing his goddaughter broken like this, but he owed it to her mother- to her, to find out who did this. Asuka looked as if she'd been dropped from a great height, and that didn't happen by accident.

--

When the body was being removed, while the crime scene unit were going about their business, one of them called him over.

"Shikamaru? You might wanna see this. We found it under Asuka," Neji Hyuuga handed over a piece of paper.

Shikamaru's brow furrowed as he read it. "What the hell? A nursery rhyme?" he exclaimed.

"From all signs, it seems she was hung in the cradle from a branch in the tree, which was then broken, causing her to fall," Neji said calmly, as if that explained it.

"Down will come baby, cradle and all," Shikamaru muttered softly quoted the verse on the page he held. It did explain it. "Fucking bastard," he hissed, his hands shaking and curling into fists.

"Eh-hem, I'll just… uh… I'll just take this before you accidentally destroy evidence," Neji said, carefully removing the paper from his hand and walking away.

"Lieutenant Nara?" called the officer Shikamaru had spoken to before. Shikamaru nodded in acknowledgment.

"Commander wants to see you as soon as you've finished here," he was told.

"Thank you," Shikamaru muttered, already lost in his own thoughts again.

He was going to catch this bastard.

He'd promised.

-TBC-

**A/N I told you it would be up today!! Um. Yeah. I hope you're enjoying it. I don't know when the next chapter is going to be up. **

**Oh, and Sarutobi (the 4****th**** Hokage, but I don't know his first name) is ALIVE atm in this story. He has to be.**

**And RE how everything is done- I'm sort of making it up as I go along, and it's sort off possibly in the future, or a little bit in the future, because I'm going to have some technology which probably hasn't been invented yet. I think. But yeah... **

**Okay, so it's probably- definitely not a good idea to start a murder mystery without fully planning out what's going to happen, which is what I've done. But I sorta know what's gonna happen!! … I think. I don't know. So this will either end up being amazing, horrendous or abandoned. (I'm hoping for the first one =P) But y'know, that's just my opinion.**

**This has taken close on 2 and a half hours to type up. And finish writing. Please review!**


	4. Newcomer

**.Newcomer.**

"Shikamaru! Is it true? About Asuka?" Moegi asked as he entered the station.

He replied with a short nod.

"Oh my god," she whispered. "Does Konohamaru know?"

"He was first on scene."

"Ohmygod! He must be devastated!" she exclaimed, wide-eyed.

Shikamaru resisted the urge to roll his eyes at Moegi's obvious concern (and therefore affection) for her colleague. "I have to go," he muttered, hoping the girl would take the hint and stop following him.

She didn't.

Thankfully, however, they passed her buddy Udon, and she just had to stop to share the news.

Giving in to the urge and actually rolling his eyes this time, he opened the door to the commander's office.

"You wanted to see me, Tsunade?" he said, standing in the doorway.

"Yes, Shikamaru, please come in." The commander, a buxom blonde starting to get on in years (although no-one dared say so to her face- or in the station) gestured to a chair.

Shikamaru shot a curious glance towards the other occupant of the room as he sat down- it was another blonde woman, one he didn't recognize.

"Shikamaru, this is Lieutenant Temari Sabaku, SPD. Temari, Lieutenant Shikamaru Nara," Tsunade introduced the two, and they shook hands.

Shikamaru was more than a little confused. Why was a Lieutenant from Suna here? Suna was the closest city of Konoha's size, but… it made no sense.

"Shikamaru, this is about your new case," Tsunade said, "Due to your… uh… personal concern over Asuka's death it is normally protocol that you would have to hand over this case- I am aware that you do not want to give up this case, and I have no intention of making you do so," Tsunade raised her voice, cutting off Shikamaru's protests.

"Just listen before you object." Tsunade rubbed her eyes. "Besides, many people in this station have a personal interest in this case, the victim being Asuma's daughter. So I've decided to assign an impartial partner to you, preferably from out of the city. Temari has agreed to this assignment. Is that more acceptable, _Lieutenant_?" Her voice was cool.

"Yes, Commander," Shikamaru replied. "One question: how the hell did you get a Sunan cop here so quickly? It's a three hour flight."

"I was already in Konoha visiting a friend. Gaara- SPD Commander suggested me for the job, being already close by," Temari answered him.

"And you don't mind working on your time off?" Shikamaru asked incredulously.

"My leave was due to end tomorrow anyway," Temari told him.

"Once you're finished chatting-" Tsunade started.

"Why are you at the station at midnight?" Shikamaru asked her suddenly, cutting her off mid sentence.

Tsunade blinked at him. "You're very cheeky, Nara. Temari, are you this cheeky with your commander?"

A ghost of a smirk played around Temari's lips. "My commander's my brother, the situation's not quite the same."

"Mmm. I live a block away, Nara. Kakashi called me to tell me about Asuka- apparently you got hold of Anko for Kurenai, good move by the way- and I happened to be… uh… in contact with G- Commander Sabaku, so I was able to get hold of Temari very quickly. And she was open to arranging a meeting at this time of night."

"She and Gaara play the same online game," Temari whispered as an aside to Shikamaru, who allowed his lips to twitch.

"Shht," Tsunade scolded jokingly. "No matter how it came about, we are all here now, so it doesn't matter."

"Why're Moegi and Udon on the graveyard shift?" Shikamaru asked.

"What? Nara, what is with you? I don't know, they just are. Do you have a problem with that?" Tsunade asked shortly.

Shikamaru shrugged. "Nope. Just a thought."

"Anyway. Now that you two have been introduced, it's up to you to decide when you want to brief her, Shikamaru- tonight or tomorrow morning. Uh…" Tsunade glanced at the time. "Now, or after dawn. Now shoo, I want to go back to bed."

Temari stood up and nodded. "Thank you, Tsunade." Saying so, she left the room, obviously expecting Shikamaru to follow.

But Shikamaru, although he had stood, didn't show any signs of moving towards the door.

"Tsunade, why did you really assign a partner to me on this case? Do you really think I'll screw up just because it was Asuka?" he asked Tsunade quietly, leaning on her desk.

"Of course not. I have every faith in you, Shikamaru. But because it's Asuka and because of your relationship with her, I had to. Aside from the fact that it's protocol, I don't want the bastard who did this to be let off because of the possibility that you haven't been objective. I don't want his lawyer to use you as the fucker's get out of jail free card. I want the perp to rot in jail, and this is my way of protecting both our asses and making sure he does. Got it?" Tsunade replied, a glimpse of fire shining in her eyes.

Shikamaru gave a nod. He understood. "In that case, thank you." He stood up and made to leave. He paused at the doorway and partially turned to face her.

"Oh, by the way? Nice slippers," he told her, smirking slightly- he had seen the fluffy footwear underneath the desk.

Tsunade narrowed her eyes at him. "Get outta here, Nara."

Shikamaru laughed and raised a hand in greeting. Temari stood by the door, waiting patiently.

"Took your time," she muttered.

"You probably wanna get some sleep and pick this up in the morning, don't you?" he sighed.

"I can see by the look on your face that you won't want to sleep until you've caught the perp," Temari replied, not answering his question in the slightest.

Shikamaru laughed shortly. "And if you knew me, you would know that that is the most uncharacteristic thing I could do."

"But you're not denying it," Temari noted quietly.

His smile faded away.

"So, I don't mind working on it tonight if you don't," Temari told him briskly.

He looked at her, surprised. "Do you not sleep, or something?"

"I grew up with a little brother who suffered from insomnia. I've been staying with my best friend for about a week now, and she's a major party animal which means that I have gotten pretty used to not sleeping. It doesn't affect me," she told him.

He closed his eyes. At least the partner Tsunade had assigned him seemed competent. He wondered if she knew the full story.

"I still can't fucking believe it," he mumbled to himself, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"What's exactly the deal with this vic? Tsunade was a little hazy on details. You seem torn up," Temari asked, proving that she didn't know.

"The vic has a name. It's Asuka Sarutobi," Shikamaru said acidly, unable to help himself.

"I can't be expected to know her name if you haven't briefed me yet," she replied sharply.

Shikamaru took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. Asuka is- was my goddaughter," he said quietly.

"Oh. That… that explains it. I'm sorry." Temari fidgeted awkwardly.

Shikamaru sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "I need a drink. Would you object to being briefed in my apartment?" he asked suddenly.

"Uh…" Temari blinked in surprise. "No. Not at all."

-TBC-

**A/N: Um, okay, so some of this chapter I'm not entirely happy with. **

**The reason why Shikamaru is acting so calm (most of the time) is because it's his coping mechanism. He's switched himself off. There'll be more on that the next chapter. Sorta. He's so friendly with Tsunade because… I'm thinking that she was a more low ranking officer when he joined the force, as well as she's possibly friends with/knows his parents- oh what the hell, he just is. It's quite a closely bound police force. Or- hey! Okay, plot ideas popping up here, zipping lips.**

**So, Temari's turned up. Yeah. And she's a cop. Not the murderer. Yeah.**

**ANYWAY. Hope you're enjoying it so far, and please review!!**


	5. Photographs

**.Photograph****s.**

"Is this her?" Temari asked, studying the pictures on his shelf.

Shikamaru, in the middle of pouring himself a whiskey (Temari had gracefully declined), looked up at the photo she was looking at.

"Yeah," he confirmed, "That's Asuka."

"She was cute," Temari said softly, a small smile slipping onto her face.

"Yeah," he repeated, also softly. Frowning, he drunk some whiskey.

"Nice setup you have here. It's sweet." Temari indicated the shelf full of pictures in plain black frames, pictures of his friends, family, those dear to him.

He let out a quiet chuckle. "It's the combined work of my mother and Ino. I didn't have much of a say. But I do like it."

"Who's Ino? Your girlfriend?" asked Temari still looking at the pictures.

Shikamaru snorted. "Thank god she's not, I'd go crazy. She's a criminal profiler, the police shrink. I've known her for pretty much my whole life. I suppose friendship was inevitable." Shikamaru lifted his glass to his lips again. "Mmm. She's the blonde pne," he told Temari, seeing she was looking at a group picture.

Temari nodded. "Are these all your friends?"

"Call 'em friends, call 'em people who've forced themselves into my life and refuse to leave…" Shikamaru shrugged. "Yeah."

Temari laughed and turned around. "Maybe we should actually work."

Shikamaru's face turned grim and he drunk some more. He didn't see Temari wince sympathetically.

"Or… we could talk about Asuka," Temari offered. "Tell me, how did you get to be her godfather? How does everyone at the station know her? Who's Asuma?"

Shikamaru smiled a little in spite of himself. "Jeez, don't want to know much, do you?" he joked.

She shrugged, also smiling. "What can I say? I'm a cop. Wanting to know everything is part of my make-up."

"Pretty darn good-looking make-up," he murmured to himself, a smirk playing around his lips.

Her forehead furrowed, not having caught what he said. "What?"

"Nothing," he said, and settled himself on the couch. "You might wanna take a seat, it's a fairly long story. And I'll brief you right after it, so…"

Temari sat down in the seat he gestured to. "Might as well."

"Okay. So. Asuma. Might as well start there. When I first joined the force, my mentor and trainer was Asuma Sarutobi. We became good friends. He had a girlfriend, Kurenai, who by association became a friend of mine as well. They got married. She fell pregnant. Just before she fell pregnant, there was a huge case that we were involved in. Asuma, Tsunade, Kiba from CDD, Shino from Narcotics, Neji and Hinata were the head CSI's, Sasuke, Naruto, Kakashi… there was quite a few of us."

"Drug related?" Temari asked.

Shikamaru looked up from staring into his glass, faintly surprised. "If you've read about it, then-"

"No. You mentioned Narcotics," Temari pointed out, smiling faintly.

"Oh. Right. Anyway, it was a long case. And a rather vicious one. And when Kurenai was about five months pregnant, Asuma was killed in the line of duty. He never even met Asuka." Shikamaru trailed off for a second, and drank some more.

"I'm sorry," Temari said quietly.

Shikamaru grunted. "Not as sorry as I am. I was the one who told Kurenai. It destroyed her. And do you know what? She was healing, she was getting better, she was actually truly _happy_- and now this."

Temari bit her lip in consternation at his angry, frustrated tone. "I… I don't know what to say."

Shikamaru rubbed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. "No. It's… it's fine. I'm fine."

_No you're not, _Temari thought, looking at him, but left it as he drained his glass.

"Anyway, we caught the guy who did it- Hidan, his name was. He got a harsher sentence because he had killed a cop. Asuma."

Temari gave a single nod. "We protect our own."

"Damn right. Our entire team was devastated. Especially Tsunade. He had taken the bullet for her."

Temari's eyes closed reflexively, only imagining how Tsunade must have felt. No wonder she and Shikamaru seemed so friendly. She imagined the entire team that had been on that case were like that.

"Asuma had asked me to be there for Kurenai, and I was. I loved Asuka, I really did. The team that was on the case are all close to Asuka, because of how Asuma died." His voice almost broke- almost.

"Briefing. We haven't got that much to go on yet, because the ME hasn't examined her yet. We think she died… we think she died by being dropped from a tree. She was found earlier tonight by Kurenai. She was in a cradle, broken and bleeding. She was… her birthday was last week. She had barely turned one." He squeezed his eyes shut, pinching the bridge of his nose harder than before, trying to will away the tears away (maybe that little bit of alcohol was all that was needed to send him over the edge).

Temari averted her eyes, not knowing what to do.

"She never knew her father. _I_ was her father figure. I promised Asuma I would look after her, after her and Kurenai, and I couldn't. I couldn't. She's gone. I can't fucking believe it," he whispered angrily, supporting his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands, unable to hold back the angrysad tears ran down his cheeks.

Temari's eyes jerked back to him when she heard a slight tremor in his voice and her eyes widened when she saw the years. "Oh shit. Oh shit, you're crying. Fuck, um…" She stood up panicked, took two quick steps towards him and… stood there, biting her lip, her hand hovering uncertainly above his back. She wasn't prepared for a situation like this. Her hand came up to her face and she bit nervously on her thumbnail. "Shit, I'm really not good with this whole sympathy thing. Sorry. I just… shit. Don't cry. Please don't cry." Her eyes darted to the door, wanting to make a dash for it, wanting help to miraculously appear, either one would be fine, really.

She knelt in front of him, rested a hand on his knee. "Shikamaru, shit, please don't cry, I can't deal with crying. Please. I-don't cry. Please stop crying. I'm sorry."

Shikamaru wiped the tears from his face. "Why are you apologizing? It's not like you killed her," he said bitterly.

Her mouth opened and closed with no sound emerging. "Shikamaru, I…" She stopped, lost for words.

Shikamaru, angry, sad, annoyed with himself, possibly just a tiny bit tipsy (it had been quite a full glass of undiluted whiskey), and faced with an attractive, concerned woman, did the only thing he could think of to distract himself.

He kissed her.

He grabbed her jaw and kissed her roughly, Temari being hugely surprised and frozen with shock, her eyes wide open and making a slight squeak.

He broke away and she knelt there, still frozen. But she quickly regained control and scrambled up as fast as she could.

"I… you… you're angry…sad… you…I…" she stumbled over her words, backing towards the door. "You're… not… not thinking straight… um… I… have to go… you… you need sleep. You need to go to sleep, and I'll meet you at the station in the morning. I… You… Bye." She whipped out the door.

Shikamaru buried his face in his hands, trying to stop the tears that were still falling.

Temari was right; he needed sleep.

He needed to sort this out.

-TBC-

**A/N: Um… that kiss was not part of the plan… at all… but… I'll go with it… could work…**

**Anyway, rushing to get this up before prep. (5 chapters in a week! Record for me!!)**

**You know the drill: please review! (Hope you liked it!)**

**OH: ME- medical examiner**

**CSI- crime scene investigator**

**CDD- Canine Detection Division (my own creation)**


	6. Sympathy

**.Sympathy.**

Shikamaru glared at his alarm when it woke him up a mere five hours after his head had hit the pillow. Unfortunately, glaring at the alarm did not switch it off.

The niggling annoyance in the back of his brain telling him that the whole scenario the night before was not just a horrible nightmare finally forced him out of bed.

He had taken Temari's 'advice' and gone to straight to bed the night before, resulting in him being clearheaded, albeit a little bleary-eyed, as he got ready.

He arrived at work early for his shift- which was highly unusual for him- for any cop, really. Although he figured it all worked out in the end, because it took him three times longer than usual to get to his office because he was being constantly stopped by colleagues giving him their condolences. The women were the worst- looking at him sympathetically and asking him how he was doing, how he was coping, so soon after Asuma too- wasn't it terrible, and if he needs anything, he _has _to feel free to ask. He was sick of it. It just made it hurt more, anyway. What he needed was to forget about the relationship to him for now, not be constantly reminded of it.

Finally, he reached his office and slumped down in his chair, praying no-one would come in.

Oh. Except for his new partner. She sorta had to be in there.

Meanwhile, said partner had just entered the station and realized that she had no idea where Lieutenant Nara's office was.

Groaning, she headed towards the information desk and was greeted by a light whistle.

"Hey, sweetheart, how can I help you?" the guy in question grinned at her, red tattoos under his eyes.

Temari looked him up and down- he seemed vaguely familiar. Eventually she decided that he was harmless enough, and she hated talking to receptionist-type people- they annoyed the hell out of her, and she sorta thought they belonged to a cult dedicated to giving people vague and utterly unhelpful advice, and losing messages.

"I'm looking for Lieutenant Nara's office. D'ya think you could show me where it is?" she asked.

The man's eyebrows shot up. "Shikamaru? Hey, okay. Come on." He waved at her to follow him as he moved to the elevators.

A few flights up, Shikamaru was rubbing his temples when there was a knock on the door.

"Who is it and whaddaya want?" he called, lowering his feet from the desk to the floor.

The door opened, causing Shikamaru to roll his eyes as a rather scruffy head poked in. "Yo, dude, hot chick out here for ya."

"Kiba. Don't mess around," Shikamaru sighed.

"I'm not! I swear!" Kiba exclaimed, throwing the door open, revealing the said 'hot chick'.

Shikamaru hid a smirk at Kiba's unintentional foul-up, as he figured that from Temari's raised eyebrows she had heard his description of her.

"Ah, Lieutenant Sabaku, glad to see you're prompt," he greeted her.

Kiba eyes shot wide. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, what? Lieutenant? You're a cop?" he asked Temari.

Temari smiled. "Lieutenant Temari Sabaku, SPD Homicide, temporarily assigned to KPD," she introduced herself, holding out her hand. Kiba took it and shook it.

"Uh… Lieutenant Kiba Inuzuka, CDD. You coulda given me some warning, man. I've just gone and made a fool of myself," Kiba flashed an apologetic grin.

"Kiba, you do that all the time," Shikamaru told him, "You're in the wrong department, get moving before Hana skins you. Temari, take a seat." He indicated the other chair in the small room.

"Dude, you do not know how much it sucks having your sister as your superior. Fuck," Kiba complained. "But yeah, might see you later. Nice meetin' ya, Temari. See you around. Oh, and Shikamaru? I heard about Asuka. Catch the bastard and make him fry, 'kay? I'm counting on you, dude."

"I won't let you down. Now fuck off," Shikamaru laughed.

Kiba disappeared behind the door as he closed it.

"You know, you can sit down," he told Temari.

"Yeah, I will, I just… I'm sorry. I really am. About… about your goddaughter. It… it must be tough," she said.

Shikamaru laughed out loud. "Stones from my enemies, these wounds will mend, but I can't survive, the roses from my friends," he sang.

Temari's eyebrows shot up. "What was that?"

Shikamaru chuckled, shaking his head. "Just some old song Asuma used to play. He always did have crap music taste. I just… I get it. This whole morning was hell. People were constantly plying me with sympathy and I can't fucking stand it. Kiba seems to get it. No 'I'm sorry,' and shit. It's easier that way," he replied, turning to his computer.

Temari pondered this for a couple seconds. "I'm gonna have to say sorry again. I didn't think of it that way," she said with a short laugh.

"It's okay. I was just waiting for you. The ME has finished her examination. Wanna head down to the morgue?" Shikamaru asked.

"Why's you ask me to sit down if you were just gonna ask me to stand up again?" Temari asked.

"Just got a message from Sakura now," he explained, indicating his computer.

"Ah. Yeah, that makes sense," she laughed. "Let's go catch the fucker."

"Glad we're on the same page," Shikamaru muttered, standing up. He stood there, waiting for Temari to go ahead.

"You know, you can go," he prompted her.

"I'm sorry, no, I don't know where the fuck I'm going around here yet," Temari replied, gesturing for him to take the lead.

"And that explains why Kiba was in this end of the station," Shikamaru remarked wryly, slipping out the door.

-TBC-

**A/N: OKAY, so it's short chapter. And very late, I apologise. For those of you who don't know, I fucked up at the beginning of the holidays and just… long story short, half the chapter was on the school computer which I couldn't access during my three week holiday. In any case, here it is, and yes it is short but I felt it sort of ended there. So… yeah. Hopefully, the next chapter should be up soon****-soon. Hopefully. Yeah.**

**Sorry.**

**Please review. **


	7. Cadaver

**.Cadaver.**

"Shikamaru!" Temari almost shot the person who cried out, it was so sudden. And so unexpected in the white a metal sterile room of the dead.

A white lab coat topped with bubblegum pink hair shot past her and into Shikamaru, wrapping arms around his torso.

"I can't believe it!" the voice continued, muffled now because mouth from which it was issuing was buried in Shikamaru's chest. "It must be so hard for you!"

Temari almost cringed for Shikamaru's sake, but he just looked weary. He attempted to pat the girl awkwardly on the back, then he gently pushed her away.

"Sakura, come on. I'm coping. Are you going to tell me what you found out so I can catch the guy?" he asked her.

"I'm sorry," Sakura mumbled, having the grace to look sheepish. Then she caught sight of Temari, who sort of felt like she wanted to run at the sight of the apparently excitable ME.

"You must be the SPD Lieutenant." Sakura smiled at Temari, and she relaxed slightly.

"Right. Sakura, this is SPD Lieutenant Temari Sabaku. Temari, KPD Head ME Sakura Haruno," Shikamaru introduced the two women. Temari nodded and smiled as they shook hands.

"So, what do you have for us?" Shikamaru asked. Sakura grimaced, and turned to walk towards a covered table, gesturing for Temari and Shikamaru to follow her.

"I did some preliminary tox tests, and I really don't think any further tests will turn up anything more," Sakura told them as she pulled back the sheet.

Shikamaru closed his eyes briefly as the shock hit him again. Both Temari's and Sakura's eyes shot worriedly to him before drifting back to the small corpse when his eyes opened again.

"I found traces of chloroform in her airways, so she probably didn't feel anything," Sakura said quietly. Shikamaru nodded, acknowledging her attempt to console him.

Temari was silent as she viewed the body. The smiling, happy toddler she'd seen in the photograph at Shikamaru's house was lying pale and cold on the table. Sakura's neat Y-cut in her chest was slightly marred by a rib poking out of her side. Sakura'd obviously made an attempt to clean her up, but there was little she could do to beautify a dead child.

"Have you confirmed the COD?" Shikamaru asked, jolting Temari out of her haze. Sakura also snapped into business mode.

"Yes. Preliminary supposition appears to be correct. All signs point to COD being a fall from a great height. Her spine shattered, and her neck broke. There was also some cranial trauma. Her ribs broke from the impact, puncturing her skin and narrowly missing her lungs. There were pieces of wicker embedded in her back, which I have removed. If the fall didn't kill her immediately, she would have died soon after from exsanguination," Sakura finished.

Shikamaru nodded slowly, staring blankly at Asuka.

"I took the liberty of running the fingerprints I found on her. They're all Kurenai's," Sakura continued, keeping a concerned eye on Shikamaru.

Shikamaru sighed. "Figures," he muttered dryly. He looked up at Sakura. "Do you have anything else for us?"

"No," Sakura replied softly. "Shikamaru-"

"I'm fine," he interrupted. "Thank you. We should go." He smiled tightly and nodded to Sakura in greeting before turning towards the door. Temari gritted her teeth and just barely managed to avoid rolling her eyes.

"Lieutenant," Shikamaru called. Temari smiled at Sakura. "Thank you. It was nice meeting you."

Sakura smiled gratefully at her. "Same. I wish it had been under better circumstances." Sakura glanced at Shikamaru and leaned toward Temari. "Good luck with him," she muttered.

"Thanks," Temari muttered back.

"Lieutenant!" Shikamaru called again.

"I'm coming!" she replied. "Bye," she greeted Sakura. Sakura lifted her hand in greeting before Temari turned on her heel and marched to where Shikamaru was impatiently holding the door open.

"If you've finished dawdling," Shikamaru muttered, just loud enough for Temari to hear, although that may have been unintentional.

"What crawled up your ass and died?" Temari muttered to herself, rolling her eyes.

--

"We should start looking for suspects," Temari said from where she was sitting in the corner of Shikamaru's office.

"You don't say," Shikamaru answered facetiously, causing Temari to glare lightly at him.

"Anyway. Going through the normal question, we need to ask if Asuka had any enemies."

"She was one," Shikamaru said loudly.

"I said going through the normal-"

"Actually, now that you mention it, Kurenai did mention Asuka having a rivalry with one of the little boys at her daycare," Shikamaru interrupted, sarcasm dripping off his words.

"Nara, I'm just going through the normal steps, it doesn't mean we have to investigate that angle," Temari snapped.

"It was a bloody stupid question," Shikamaru muttered, returning to staring blankly at the wall.

Temari shot out of her chair and crossed to his desk in two strides. He didn't notice, and was therefore taken unawares when she slapped him.

Shikamaru shot backwards in his chair and glared up at her, clutching his cheek.

"What the hell was that for?" he yelled.

"You're being pissy," Temari told him crossly.

"What?" he bit out.

"I understand that she's your goddaughter and you're grieving and everything, but you're being pissy and uncooperative. We haven't a snowballs hope in hell of catching the guy who did this if one of the primary investigators and source of information is being a whiny little bitch, okay? You need to snap out of it. If I'm part of a team- and by the way, that's what we are- it had better damn be an efficient team. I could cut you some slack due to the circumstances, but I'm not going to for two reasons: a, I don't think we'd get much work done, and b, I really don't think you'd appreciate it when you've come to your senses," Temari stormed.

Shikamaru glared at her sullenly, but didn't say anything.

He dropped his head into his hands, shaking it slightly. "Fuck, you're right," he muttered. He rubbed his eyes and stood up, walking to the open window. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a packet of cigarettes and lighter, and glanced at Temari. "Do you mind if I smoke?" he asked her.

She shrugged and settled on his desk. "If you want to kill yourself," she replied.

He put a cigarette in his mouth and lifted the lighter to light it. He settled the packet and lighter back in his pocket and blew the smoke out the window, leaning on the sill.

"There are quicker ways to die. We see that everyday in our line of work. Who says I'll live long enough to die of lung cancer, anyway?" he said.

Temari considered the truth of this, especially to him, what with Asuma and now Asuka dead, both before their time.

"Unfortunately, I can't actually argue with that. It's a pity we live in such a world," Temari sighed.

Shikamaru snorted, smoke streaming from his nose. "If we didn't, we'd be out of a job. Look, the business of crime is probably the most beneficial to the economy and circulation of money. It's a very affluent area, when you take everything into account."

"That's a very cynical view," Temari commented.

"But it's also a very honest view. Even if you don't look at the flow of money through the hands of the criminals- drug dealers, thieves, shoplifters, hackers, hitmen, hired thugs, black market goods, slave traders, smugglers, mugger… it's quite a long list. Anyway, even if you disregard these, if the world were crime free, think of how many job opportunities would be either lost or lessened. Law enforcement, security companies, bouncers, bodyguards, anti-virus software programmers, programmers who come up with online security programs, gun manufacturers- any weapon manufacturers- self defense teachers, people who create educational campaigns- such as the 'just say no to drugs' one- border patrol, customs officials, manufacturers of security cameras, security gates, car alarms, house alarms, electric fences, those beepy things in shops and libraries, and personal protection devices, such as pepper spray and tasers. Lawyers, insurance brokers, forensic accountants, those who replace the stolen goods- I think the list might be longer than the criminals. I mean, let's face it- crime pays." Shikamaru brought the cigarette to his lips again.

Temari stared at him briefly. "I'm trying to figure out whether you're simply a hardened cynic, or a marvelously honest genius," she eventually told him.

Shikamaru smirked slightly. "I'd like to believe it's the latter."

Temari chuckled. "So you'd like to believe you're a genius," she teased.

"Actually, sometimes I wish I weren't," Shikamaru told her.

"You're not really telling me you're a bonafide genius," Temari laughed.

Shikamaru shrugged and took another puff. "According to tests my IQ scores over 200, which does technically place me in the realm of genius," he replied.

Temari stared. "You're fucking shitting me," she said disbelievingly.

"Afraid not," Shikamaru answered airily.

Temari narrowed her eyes at him. "You realize I'm going to check you up on that," she told him.

Shikamaru laughed. "You're obviously a cop- naturally suspicious. But be my guest. It's true."

Temari eyed him suspiciously. "I'll leave it for now," she said.

Shikamaru took one last draw on the cigarette at the last of it burned into ash, and as he was exhaling the smoke he leaned out the window and crushed the burning butt out on the wall, allowing it to drop to the streets below.

Temari quirked an eyebrow. "Isn't that littering, and against the law, _Lieutenant_?" she inquired teasingly.

Shikamaru's lips tilted up. "Leave no evidence," he joked. "I'm not really meant to be smoking in here, but I've worked out a system in which I don't get caught by anyone who would report me. And everyone chucks their cigarette butts into that alleyway anyway, so…"

"Strategic law breaking… interesting…" Temari considered.

Shikamaru laughed wryly. "Okay. I've snapped out of it. Let's get to work."

"Hey, the slap worked!" Temari exclaimed in mock surprise as he headed past her towards her chair.

He chuckled and gave her a light shove off his desk. "Troublesome woman. Get to your chair."

-TBC-

**A/N: Okay, so the chapter just sort of ended itself right there… Wrote this in one day. I felt bad for making you wait. Even though it hasn't been that long (COMPARED TO MY OTHER STORIES) but still.  
**

**I hope you enjoyed it, and please do review. I always love to know what you think. The next chapter should (hopefully) be up in a week or so. N promises. But maybe. Until then…**


	8. So

**.So****.**

"So," Temari began, "who do we look for as suspects? Did Kurenai have any enemies?"

"Kurenai's a lawyer," Shikamaru told her with a wry grin.

Temari heaved a sigh. "Well, that narrows it down," she muttered sarcastically.

Shikamaru laughed. "We can ask Kurenai if anyone's given her any trouble lately- although she's mainly been working in small claims court lately."

"She's not a criminal lawyer?" Temari asked.

"She used to be. She broke down at her last criminal case, so she moved onto less dangerous cases- also thinking of Asuka," Shikamaru told Temari, leaning back in his chair and lifting his feet onto his desk.

"Broke down?" Temari asked.

Shikamaru smiled grimly. "The state versus Hidan, for the murder of Asuma Sarutobi, additional to his one charge of drug running. Lawyer for the prosecution: Kurenai Sarutobi. Case was won, but prosecution was given a warning for becoming unprofessional and screaming accusations at the defendant," Shikamaru's voice was brisk and bland, as if reading a court report.

Temari winced. "Oh. Um."

There was an awkward silence, which was broken by a small knock on the door.

"Come in," Shikamaru called, glancing towards the door. It creaked open, and a hollow eyed uniform appeared.

"Konohamaru," Shikamaru greeted.

"Lieutenant, are you finished with Asuka's body? Kurenai would like to have the funeral tomorrow, and the Commander said that you were finished," Konohamaru explained.

Shikamaru glanced at Temari and she gave a short nod. Shikamaru looked at Konohamaru. "I see no problem with that. So the funeral's tomorrow?" he asked.

Konohamaru. "Commanader said that you can take time off to go."

Shikamaru ran his hand over his face. "Thank you, Konohamaru."

Konohamaru nodded at Temari out of politeness, and obviously not out of any interest as to who she was. The door closed and Konohamaru disappeared.

"Asuma's nephew, Asuka's cousin," Shikamaru said by way of explanation.

"Is the entire family in the police force?" Temari asked, attempting to inject some levity into the situation.

Shikamaru chuckled. "One Sarutobi for each of the last three generations have been. Hiruzen Sarutobi, Asuma's father, was the previous commander.

"Wow. High powered family."

Shikamaru gave a slow nod, a smile on his face. "Um… the funeral tomorrow… do you wanna… would you come?" he asked hesitantly.

Temari's eyebrows shot up. "Not the most romantic of dates, Lieutenant," she joked. Shikamaru grimaced to himself, while fighting back a grin.

"I'm sorry it doesn't meet your standards," he joked. "No, I was just… well, Kurenai's obviously going to be there, and I figured we could ask her about any upsets and such then. But… I don't know if I could do that, not when she'll be expecting comfort and consolation from me."

Temari settled back in her chair. "Oh, I see what you're doing. Playing the 'good cop bad cop' routine. Thanks." She sighed. "I'm always the bad cop."

Shikamaru let out a burst of laughter. "You don't look motherly enough to be the good cop," he told her.

Temari laughed in surprise. "What?"

Shikamaru removed his feet from the desk and leaned on his elbows, interlocking his fingers. He had a smirk on his face and a twinkle in his eye.

"You look too badass."

Temari flicked nonexistent hair out of her face. "Thank you," she replied primly.

"You look like you would slip into the role of dominatrix perfectly," Shikamaru continued, causing Temari to flush red and gape at him. "Yeah, I reckon you'd be useful in interrogating the tough, macho type male criminals. They'll try to impress you by bragging, if you play your cards right and act as if you could be into them. So you'd be a bad cop, but a bad cop on their side who they might score, or so they'd think. Most of them are only in possession of half a brain anyway, decreased further by the steroids they pump themselves full of, so it would probably work."

He was grinning as Temari sat there sputtering.

"I can't believe you jus said that!" she exclaimed, while attempting not to laugh.

"I'm also always the bad cop," he told her, then chuckled. "No good cop on our team, so that strategy's not going to work."

"You called me a dominatrix!" Temari cried, dissolving into giggles.

"No, I said you look like you'd slip into the role of dominatrix perfectly," Shikamaru corrected.

"I can't believe you called me a dominatrix!" Temari choked out.

Shikamaru sighed. "We've already gone over this, Lieutenant. I didn't call you a dominatrix, merely said that you look as if you could be one."

A fresh wave of giggles overcame Temari and she bent double in hysterics. Shikamaru watched her with a single raised eyebrow as the giggles gradually subsided. Temari calmed herself down and looked at him with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"D'ya wanna find out if your observation is correct?" Temari asked in a sultry voice.

It was Shikamaru's turn to flush red and choke, and Temari was off again, doubled over with giggles.

"I'm sorry!" she cried, "I'm sorry! I couldn't help it!"

Shikamaru attempted to cool his flaming cheeks as Temari rode out the last wave of hysterics.

"Oh god, I'm sorry," she gasped, straightening up in her chair. "That was totally inappropriate."

"Well…" Shikamaru coughed lightly.

"I blame my friend. Spent too much time with her," Temari muttered, her cheeks faintly red. Although whether that was from the hysterics or from slight embarrassment, Shikamaru couldn't say. He just thought it suited her.

Shikamaru laughed. "Um… it's… yeah, let's get back to the case."

Temari's eyes darted around the room. "That sounds like a good idea," she agreed.

"So, any suggestions as to where else we could look?" Shikamaru asked.

The room plunged into silence as the two lieutenant's thought hard.

"The problem with a case such as this," Temari finally said, "is that there really is no-one we can look for. It seems like a completely random killing, but-"

"The MO and study of Kurenai's habits suggests that it wasn't," Shikamaru finished.

"Exactly," Temari agreed.

"So… we're at a dead end until we talk to Kurenai tomorrow," Shikamaru sighed.

"Yeah. I'm guessing you think that asking her today would be a bit callous?"

"There we go," Shikamaru affirmed.

There was some more silence as the two twiddled their thumbs.

"So…you're a genius, huh?" Temari asked.

"Yeah." Shikamaru nodded.

"So if I ask you anything, you would be able to answer correctly?" Temari said lightly.

Shikamaru's lips twitched. "Yeah, it doesn't quite work like that," he told her.

"Whaddaya mean?"

"Just because I'm a genius doesn't mean I know anything. In fact, I am remarkably lazy when it comes to matters such as reading and learning things, which consequentially means that I know no more than the average person."

"But you're a genius."

"That just means that I can remember things easily and that I can work out strategies and use logic easily. Not that I know everything."

"I think I get it," Temari said slowly. "You can't know anything you've never learnt- or heard of, right?"

"You caught on quicker than many people," Shikamaru remarked dryly.

Temari allowed herself a small self-satisfied smirk, and the room lapsed into silence again.

"So, you still staying with your friend?" Shikamaru asked after a minute or so of gazing out the window.

"Hmm? Yeah. I have a key to her place, so it's cool," Temari replied.

"You have a key to her house?" Shikamaru eyebrow was raised again.

"Apartment, really." Temari shrugged. "And if you knew how often she loses her key, it wouldn't come as much of a surprise."

"She must really trust you," Shikamaru commented.

Temari snorted. "Yeah, and she knows I'm also approximately a hundred times more responsible than her. I've had to bail her out of jail a couple times. You know, she's only been to Suna a couple times, but I forbade her to go back there because I was constantly being ripped off by the other cops about being an accomplice."

"What?" Shikamaru laughed.

"She was there for a grand total of about a month and a half and ended up being arrested for something or the other about once or twice a week," Temari told him indignantly.

Shikamaru winced. "Ouch."

Temari shrugged. "It was never anything serious, which just made it worse," she muttered.

Shikamaru laughed at Temari's sulky expression.

Temari's gaze drifted out the window as conversation lulled again.

"So…"

"Lunch break?"

"Okay."

-TBC-

**A/N: I COULDN'T JUST SKIP TO THE NEXT DAY! I COULDN'T!**

**And… there's not much more they can do in this day. **

…**Yeah….**

**The title of the chapter is because they say 'so' a helluva lot. And I normally DETEST repetition, but I decided what the hell, let's leave it. And call the chapter it. Because I can. Booyah.**

**Just ignore me. **

**But please review. Don't ignore me like that. Please. **


	9. Funereal

**.Funereal.**

Temari smoothed down her black suit jacket as she waited for Shikamaru in the foyer of the station.

"Hey, Lieutenant Hotstuff, why you here?" Kiba asked doubling back as he passed her.

Temari raised her eyebrow briefly at the nickname, but let it slide. "I'm working on a case," she reminded him.

Kiba tilted his head slightly. "Did you forget the way to Shikamaru's office?" he asked kindly.

Temari looked at him incredulously. "No. We're going to Asuka's funeral. I'm waiting for him, considering I don't have a car and I don't know where it is."

"Oh," Kiba said.

Shikamaru chose that moment to hurry in. "Sorry I'm late," he said to Temari, "You ready?"

"Yeah," Temari replied.

"Great. I'm parked just outside, we can head off immediately," he told her. She nodded in reply.

"Yo, Shikamaru!" Kiba exclaimed as Temari headed towards the main doors, slinging his arm around Shikamaru's shoulders. "You tapped that?" he asked, nodded his head towards Temari's retreating back.

Shikamaru squinted sideways as his friend incredulously. "Kiba, go away," he said, and removed Kiba's arm from his shoulders, moving towards the door.

"Hey, take advantage of the situation you have been blessed with!" Kiba called after him, chuckling when Shikamaru just ignored him.

Shikamaru slid into his car and leaned over to unlock the door for Temari. She climbed in and looked at him expectantly. He stared ahead for a couple of minutes before running a palm over his face and reaching forward to start the car. Temari's forehead creased with worry.

"Hey, are you gonna be okay?" she asked gently.

"Yeah," he replied briskly, looking behind him at the cars. "I'll be fine."

--

The church was silent as Hiruzen Sarutobi, the former commander, made his slow, halting speech.

Beside Temari, Shikamaru dropped his head into his hands, drawing her attention.

"Shikamaru?" she whispered, resting a hand on his shoulder. She felt his shoulder's jerk under her hand and worry furrowed her brow again.

"Are you okay?" she asked, feeling remarkably stupid immediately afterwards.

"Fine," he replied, but his voice caught a little.

"Shikamaru…" she trailed off, her attention completely off Hiruzen now.

She heard a choked intake of breath just before he shook hi head slightly, his face buried in his hands.

She suddenly felt very protective and concerned over the crying man next to her, a rather maternal urge to comfort and console welling up in her.

She shifted closer to him and put her arm around his shoulder, her other hand resting on his closer shoulder, and gave him a squeeze. She shook her hair back and looked back up at the podium, rubbing small circles into his back as he continued to cry.

--

They stood slightly awkwardly as they waited to speak to Kurenai after the service, both standing in silence.

"Shikamaru," a low voice said from the side of them.

"Kurenai," Shikamaru said. They'd arrived late, so Temari hadn't been introduced yet.

Kurenai nodded at Temari, but before Shikamaru could perform introductions, she spoke.

"I didn't know you were seeing someone, Shikamaru." A weak smile found it's way onto Kurenai's face.

"What? Oh no," Shikamaru exclaimed, looking between the two women. "She's not… I mean…"

"Lieutenant Temari Sabaku, SPD," Temari interrupted, holding out her hand to Kurenai.

Kurenai looked slightly confused as she accepted Temari's hand.

"I've temporarily been assigned to KPD. I'm working on your daughter's case," Temari explained gently.

"Oh." Kurenai's expression grew slightly duller.

"I hope you don't mind if we ask you some questions," Temari continued.

"No, not at all," Kurenai said, "Anything to help things along."

Temari smiled weakly. "Thank you. Do you remember anything unusual about the night?"

"I've covered that already," Shikamaru interrupted quietly.

"Oh. Sorry. Um… Did you have any enemies at all? Anyone you can think of who would want to do this to you?" Temari asked.

"Honestly? Unless it's a year old grudge from one of my criminal court cases- family of the convicted and such- then I can't think of anyone. I'm on fairly good term with everyone I know, with the exception of a coworker I might have accidentally insulted, but that's mild- and recent," Kurenai explained.

Temari grimaced, thinking to herself.

Shikamaru glanced into the distance, clearly uncomfortable with the situation.

"Temari?" he said after she was silent for a minute or so.

"Mmm?"

"Are you done?" he asked.

Temari shot a glance at him. "Um… yeah, I think so."

"Would you mind if we went now?" he said, the question directed at both the women.

Temari's eyes softened slightly as she looked at him, and Kurenai's mouth twitched.

"No, I'm done," Temari replied.

"Catch him," Kurenai said softly, reaching out and lightly resting her hand on his elbow.

Shikamaru gazed at her momentarily, before stepping forward and embracing her. He held her for a few seconds and then stepped back, painfully aware of Temari's presence.

"Okay. I'll… I'll se you soon, Kurenai," he muttered, shifting his weight from one foot to the other before abruptly turning and heading towards his car.

Temari smiled at Kurenai. "Thank you. I'll get in touch if there's anything else I need."

"Lieutenant," Kurenai said suddenly, and then softened the exclamation with a slight smile. "You really are a cop. Can't snap out of it, can you?"

"Um-" Temari started, unsure of how to respond.

"It doesn't matter. It reminds of…" Kurenai trailed off, and then shook her head slightly. "Temari- may I call you Temari?"

"Yes," Temari said cautiously.

"You're young. But… life isn't forever. Have a little fun."

"Um… thank you?" Temari replied, thoroughly confused.

Kurenai laughed slightly. "I saw the way you were comforting Shikamaru. He needs someone. I've got my friends. But Shikamaru… this has really affected him. Just… help him? Please?"

"I don't… I… um…" Temari's speech was halting.

"And I think what he really needs is a good fuck to get his mind off things," Kurenai added in a low voice. Temari almost choked, and her cheeks turned pink.

"Wha- it's not-"

Kurenai chuckled. "You needn't bother denying it. Just take it as the senseless ramblings of an old woman, if you want."

Temari laughed slightly. "Thanks, I guess. It was good meeting you. And while it does sound overused, I really am sorry for your loss." She smiled at the older woman.

"Thank you. Now go," Kurenai pushed her lightly in the direction of the car.

"Bye," Temari called as she hurried off to Shikamaru, who was waiting patiently in the car.

"What was that about?" he asked, as she climbed into the car.

Unnoticed by him, as he was starting the car, Temari ran her tongue over her teeth and looked him up and down out of the corner of her eye in contemplation.

"Nothing," she replied after a moment.

Shikamaru glanced at her as he pulled out, faintly amused. "Temari, I'm also a cop. You hesitated."

Temari flashed a grin at him. "Just some girl talk."

Shikamaru shook his head slightly. "I don't feel like working at the station. Would you mind if we just grabbed the records and worked at my place?"

Temari hid a slight smirk as a thought inspired by Kurenai's comments floated through her mind. "No, not at all," she responded.

--

Shikamaru groaned and scooted back from his desk. "All these guys are either dead or in jail!" he complained, glaring at his computer screen. "You having any luck?" He looked over at Temari, set up on his laptop on the other side of the room.

She glanced up tiredly. "Nope."

"We've been at it for hours," Shikamaru moaned, glancing at the clock. "Oh bloody hell. You're fucking kidding me," he said exasperatedly.

"What?" Temari asked.

"It's eleven o'clock!"

Seriously? PM?" Temari inquired.

Shikamaru just leveled a gaze at her. Temari sighed and put the laptop on the lounge table.

"Well, Kurenai certainly was a competent and busy criminal lawyer," she sighed, running her hands through her hair.

Shikamaru snorted. "You're telling me." He yawned and got up from his chair. "Whatever. You want some more coffee?"

"Yeah, please. And do you have any food in there?"

Shikamaru's lip twitched. "I'm sure I can find something edible."

"Even if it's just some cereal. I'm starving," Temari said gratefully.

Shikamaru chuckled and headed towards the kitchen.

His phone beeped and she automatically leaned over to read it. Her face gradually hardened, even as her own phone went off, and she stood up.

"Shikamaru," she called, and he emerged.

"What?" he asked.

"We have to go," she told him, tossing him his phone. He automatically reached out and caught it, reading the message as Temari grabbed her jacket.

Wordlessly, he grabbed his coat and headed towards the door, Temari close behind.

-TBC-

**A/N: ****I am so, so sorry for this terribly long wait you've had to endure. Life has been topsy turvy over here. I've had ridiculously little time in which to do ANYTHING, there was HUGE upset at home, and other shit, which-lol- has ended up with me going to a psychologist (some of you might not be surprised by that, what with the content of my stories, =P In fact, I do believe it's been advised by one of my readers before XD) **

**But that's not the point, and hardly excuses me. I also didn't know how to write the funeral. At all. So. I didn't. **_**Really. **_

**Anyway, I also would LOVE it if I could get some help from you guys- should I do NaNoWriMo or not? I'd possibly do 'ELOQUENTIA' (info on my profile) for it. I've a poll up on my profile, and would love it if you would vote- I need to know, and **_**soon. **_** (I'm undecided, and need help)**

**Thank you for reading, again, I'm ever so sorry. Please review anyway. Please. **


	10. Goosey Goosey Gander

**.Goosey Goosey Gander.**

'Whose house is this?' Temari asked as they climbed out of Shikamaru's car at a largish house surrounded by flashing cars.

'I don't know,' Shikamaru replied.

There was a slight commotion in the house, and a uniform came stumbling out.

'I can't do this, not again. I can't take this,' he muttered as he made his way to a car, tear tracks scalding paths down his cheeks.

'Konohamaru?' Shikamaru asked, surprised.

Konohamaru halted near them and lifted his head to glare at him.

'You,' he whispered hostilely, 'It's your fault.'

'What?' Shikamaru said, confused.

'You didn't find the person who killed my cousin, and now they've got my grandfather,' Konohamaru accused hotly.

'Your- oh shit, Konohamaru. I'm sorry,' Shikamaru said, glancing towards the house.

'You're sorry. You're sorry. It's your fault. If you'd have done your job properly, this wouldn't've-' Konohamaru cut himself short.

'Konohamaru, I was working with what I had! You can't blame me!' Shikamaru exclaimed.

'Then who can I blame?' Konohamaru demanded loudly, 'Who else can I blame?'

Shikamaru didn't have an answer. Konohamaru snorted bitterly.

'Give me someone to blame, Shikamaru. Give me someone else to blame,' Konohamaru told him coldly, 'Please.' And he walked away.

'Fuck,' Shikamaru muttered, and stuffed his hands into his pockets.

'Is this…' Temari stopped.

'Hiruzen Sarutobi. He's the next victim,' Shikamaru said darkly, glaring at the house as if it had caused him personal insult.

Temari thought of the old man she'd seen choking back tears at his granddaughter's funeral earlier that day and kicked a stone.

'Babies and old people. Bastard,' she muttered. They stood there in silence for a minute or so before Shikamaru sighed.

'Come on, let's get this over with.' He started moving towards the door, Temari following close after.

Inside the house, the foyer was bustling with people.

'Neji!' Shikamaru called, spotting the CSI. Neji looked up and nodded. He issued some short instructions to his colleagues before heading over to Shikamaru and Temari.

'Temari, this is head CSI, Neji Hyuuga. Neji, my partner for this case, SPD Lieutenant Temari Sabaku,' Shikamaru gave a perfunctory introduction, before turning his full attention to Neji. 'What happened to him?'

'You know who it is, then?' Neji asked.

Shikamaru shrugged. 'Yeah, bumped into Konohamaru on the way in, got an earful. What happened, Neji?'

'Again, it seems to be a fall. It looks like he fell down the stairs. Samples are being taken from the blood on the stairs to compare for DNA, but… It looks likes it's going to be Sarutobi's,' Neji finished.

'Fell down the stairs?' Temari asked.

Shikamaru sighed. 'I suppose there's absolutely no chance that this was an unrelated accident, a horrible coincidence?' he asked tiredly.

'I don't believe in coincidences,' Temari murmured.

'Me neither,' Shikamaru replied.

'Yeah. Sadly, there's no chance of that,' Neji reaffirmed their beliefs- or lack thereof. 'Follow me,' he said, and walked towards the wide white staircase. Temari and Shikamaru followed after.

'This was pinned to the banister. It's been photographed and documented,' Neji said, handing Shikamaru an evidence bag with a note in it.

'What does it say?' Temari asked.

Shikamaru sighed and passed it to her. 'It's a nursery rhyme. A fucking nursery rhyme.'

'Goosey goosey gander, whither shall I wander, upstairs and downstairs and in my ladies parlour,' Temari read.

'There I met an old man who wouldn't say his prayers, so I took him by his left leg and threw him down the stairs,' Shikamaru finished bitterly. 'The bastard's fucking playing with us. Asuka had Rock A Bye Baby.'

'I remember you saying,' Temari said.

Shikamaru shook his head. 'Just. Was anything else found?' he asked Neji.

'Nothing so far, but we can't be sure. We'll know more once we get everything analysed at the lab,' Neji said.

'Are you done with the body?' Shikamaru queried.

'Just about. Sakura just needs to confirm time of death, and then she'll get it back to the morgue to do a full autopsy,' Neji replied.

'Why hasn't she already done that?' Shikamaru asked crossly.

'I got lost, I got lost, I'm sorry!' Sakura cried, rushing in with her bag. 'I won't be long. Is it really Commander Sarutobi?' she asked breathlessly.

'Yes. Please, Sakura, get this done as fast as possible. It's first priority,' Shikamaru told her.

'Of course! Oh, I can't believe it. It's so terrible,' Sakura whispered, before heading towards the body.

'How is she an ME? She's so full of empathy and compassion,' Temari wondered.

'I don't know how she manages to stay so upbeat. I've often wondered about it, as have all our friends, I guess,' Shikamaru remarked. 'Come on, let's take a look at the body.'

Temari winced at the sight of the old man lying in a pool of his own blood, his limbs bent at odd angles. 'It never gets any easier,' she said.

Shikamaru shook his head. 'No, it doesn't. Sometimes it gets harder,' he remarked, a pained wincing smile pulling momentarily at the corner of his mouth.

Temari laid a hand on his shoulder. 'I can't imagine how hard this must be. I didn't work my father's murder.'

Shikamaru turned to face her, surprised. 'Your father was murdered? That must have been hard.'

Temari shrugged and gave a tight smile. 'We weren't hugely close. After my mom died, he threw himself into his work. It's kind of why my brothers and I followed in his footsteps and joined the force.'

'He was a cop too?' Shikamaru asked.

'Commander of the SPD for a while,' Temari replied.

'And here's you ragging at the Sarutobi's for being a line of cops, when both your father and brother occupied top position in the SPD,' Shikamaru said with a wry smile.

Temari returned the smile. 'I know the feeling of being a high powered family. I tend to gloss over the fact, though. Sometimes people react irrationally. I want to be measured on my ability as a cop, not on my family's influence,' she explained.

'That happen a lot?' Shikamaru asked.

'Enough to annoy me,' Temari replied. 'Can we get off the topic of me now, please?'

'I thought women loved talking about themselves,' Shikamaru jibed, causing Temari to punch him lightly on the shoulder.

'Is there anything more we can get here?' Temari asked, returning her attention back to the former commander's mangled body.

'Sakura, have you got time of death yet?' Shikamaru called as way of reply.

'Time of death appears to be approximately five hours ago,' Sakura replied.

'Thank you. Who was first on scene?' Shikamaru asked loudly to the people surrounding.

'I was, sir,' a younger uniform said, raising his hand. Shikamaru gave a nod and waved him over.

'Who discovered the body?' Shikamaru asked.

'Um, a next door neighbor,' the uniform replied.

'Where is this next door neighbor?' Temari asked when the kid didn't respond to Shikamaru's expectant stare.

'Oh, um, Mrs Tanketsu is next door, ma'am. First house on the right,' he replied.

'Facing the house or not?' Temari asked.

'Um…' the uniform looked confused.

'Which way?' Temari asked. 'Point us in the direction.'

The uniform flung out a hand and pointed.

'Thank you,' Temari said, turning to leave with Shikamaru. 'Well, he's green,' she muttered.

'I don't know him. Must be a rookie,' Shikamaru replied, and knocked on the door. It opened immediately to show a worried looking woman.

'You must be the cops. What happened to Hiruzen? Is he dead? Please, come in,' Mrs Tanketsu invited.

'Thank you,' Shikamaru said as he and Temari stepped inside.

'I just can't believe it. What happened? Oh, it's terrible. Did you know his granddaughter just died? Terrible matter, it really was terrible. His son had already died, but this little girl- she was so young. It was her funeral today, that's why I went over, to see how he was, to see if there was anything I could do, and I knocked and there wasn't any answer, so I just looked through the glass at the sides to see if I could see anyone, and I just saw… well, it had to be Hiruzen, who else would it be, he'd told me he'd asked his nurse to take the night off, he just wanted to be alone, and there was just so much blood, it was horrible. What happened?' the woman stopped talking and looked at Temari and Shikamaru anxiously.

'We haven't determined what happened yet. But… Hiruzen Sarutobi is dead,' Temari said softly, apologetically.

'Oh my god,' Mrs Tanketsu muttered, horrified as Temari confirmed what she'd suspected.

'Were you and Hiruzen close?' Temari asked.

'Well, not particularly, but we were friendly. I mean, we've been neighbours for quite a while, and I'd always offer to help him around the house- you know, small things- because he was just such a nice man. Did you know he was also a police-man? He used to be the commander, but he was retired now,' Mrs Tanketsu told them.

Temari bit her lip to hide a smile at the woman's verbal diarrhea.

'Yes, we know. I knew Commander Sarutobi,' Shikamaru told her.

'Oh! It's just so sad.' The woman's face suddenly took on a startled expression. 'Was Hiruzen murdered?'

'It appears to be foul play,' Shikamaru confirmed.

'Can you tell us anything you might remember, about anything that was odd. Did Hiruzen have any visitors today? Were there any suspicious cars around?' Temari asked.

'Oh, I couldn't say, I wasn't at home for a lot of the day, which is why I went over so late. I mean, I wouldn't normally, but the light was on, and he always turns it off before he goes to sleep, so I thought I'd just go see how he was, you know?' Mrs Tanketsu said.

'Yes. Do you know of anyone who might have seen anything?' Temari asked.

'My son's been here for most of the day, I'll call him,' Mrs Tanketsu smiled, then headed to the bottom of the stairs. 'Shunsui! Are you awake?'

'Yes, mom,' came a tired voice and a teenage boy came trudging down the stairs. 'Yeah?' he asked.

'My son, Shunsui,' Mrs Tanketsu introduced. 'Shunsui, these are the police, uh…' she trailed off and looked to Temari and Shikamaru for help.

'Lieutenants Nara and Sabaku,' Shikamaru introduced.

'Shunsui, did you happen to notice anything unusual this afternoon? Anything out of the oridinary. A car, a person, anything,' Temari asked.

The boy, thought about it. 'Nah. I don't think so. I mean, there are always cars up and down the road. There was a navy car, I think, late this afternoon.'

'A navy car? A military vehicle?' Shikamaru asked.

'Huh? No. Navy as in the colour. Navy blue. It wasn't really fancy. Didn't really notice what type of car it was,' the boy replied.

'When was this car around?' Temari asked.

Shunsui shrugged. 'I don't know. It was hanging around Hiruzen's place for a while, I think. I saw it at about… six, or so. I'm not a hundred percent sure,' he said.

Shikamaru and Temari shared a glance.

'That's fine. Thank you,' Temari said.

'Hey, is this going to help you? I mean, catch whoever did this to Hiruzen?' Shunsui asked.

'How do you know what happened?' his mother asked.

'Mom, the place is crawling with cops. And I heard you talking.' Shunsui shrugged.

'I don't know. But the more we know, the better chance we have, so any little bit helps,' Shikamaru told him.

'Thank you very much for your help,' Temari said, 'If there's anything else you can think of, please feel free to call the station and ask for one of us. If we're not available, leave a message, and we'll get back to you.'

'Oh, of course, anything to help,' Mrs Tanketsu said fussily.

'Goodnight, Mrs Tanketsu. Shunsui,' Shikamaru nodded, giving a small smile before he and Temari left the house.

'Do you think the navy car belonged to the perp?' Temari asked. 'It was there in the right time frame.'

'Do you even want to imagine how many navy blue cars there are in this city?' Shikamaru sighed.

'I admit, it's not huge, and it's not really something we can search for, but it may give us more of a lead if we come across any suspects,' Temari said.

'Yeah. I get what you're saying. I mean, we still need suspects to see if they have a navy blue car,' Shikamaru replied, and looked at his watch. 'It's midnight, what the fuck can we do.'

'Get some sleep. Start with a fresh head tomorrow,' Temari told him. 'The evidence still needs to be processed, and Sakura won't have finished the autopsy soon.'

'Then we're going in early,' Shikamaru said. 'I want to get this fucker as soon as possible.'

'We're going to grab a couple hours of shut-eye if we want to be at the top of our game,' Temari replied.

'You're right. Should I drop you at your friend's place?' Shikamaru asked, running a hand through his hair as they headed towards the car.

'Why don't I just crash at your place? It'll cut down on travelling time enormously,' Temari suggested.

Shikamaru froze slightly. 'Um. I don't know. I mean, sure, but my place isn't really set up for more than one person. And you have… well, you don't have any stuff,' he pointed out.

Temari laughed slightly. 'You have a couch, and I'm pretty sure you have an extra blanket. And if I can borrow a shirt to sleep in, then I'm all set. I don't have any blood on these clothes, they're good for another wear,' she joked. 'Besides, I left my bag at your place in the rush to get here. So my keys are there.'

Shikamaru considered this. 'I suppose it would be a lot easier. And we'd be able to get to the station quicker if we were both together. It would be very time efficient,' he said.

'So that's a yes?' Temari asked, a ghost of a smile flickering around her mouth.

'Yeah, come on. I might even have an extra mattress,' Shikamaru replied, a slight smile on his face, as he started the car.

'Oh, do you know a 24-hour take-out place around here? Or a shop? We never did get anything to eat, and I'm still kinda hungry,' Temari remarked.

Shikamaru laughed. 'Wouldn't your wallet also be in your bag?' he commented as they pulled away from the curb.

'I'll pay you back as soon as we get home!' Temari exclaimed.

'Sure you will,' Shikamaru remarked dryly.

-TBC-

**A/N: Yeah, so I realize this has been over a year. I've written a page within that year. I apologise. I am really sorry. But. Here it is. And I'm hoping this will be completed within the month, because of NaNoWriMo (I'm doing freewriting). It's not like I've been neglecting this story in favour of others throughout the year, I just haven't been writing much. NaNo last year broke my brain. And I've been kinda busy. What with final year of school and all.**

**And that Harry Potter obsession raising it's head. And the discovery of teamstarkid. Which, okay, may be why (indirectly) I have neglected my NaNo for the last few days and so am almost a week behind. Okay, 9000 odd words behind. But I can catch that up. I got totally distracted by Darren Criss and his first episode of Glee. I might have had a complete fangirl squeal over that. But, I mean, it was a really good episode just on it's own (and Darren just made it so much better) and it had that twist that was like BAM!ohshit. It was so good. **

**Anyway. Sorry again. I hope you enjoyed it, and please review.**

**Oh yeah, you may ask why Shikamaru and Temari are smiling/laughing so soon after they discovered the murder? Coping mechanism. Utter exhaustion. I'm going with coping mechanism. **


	11. Legs

**.Legs.**

'Temari, are you awake- whoa.' Shikamaru stopped in the doorway at the sight of Temari scrabbling for food wearing only one of his t-shirts- which, while fairly large, didn't really hide that much.

'Oh, morning. Getting some breakfast. We can't work on empty stomachs,' she said, glancing over her shoulder, as she pulled out a box of cereal. 'Found this. That okay?' she asked, holding up the box.

'Um. Yeah,' Shikamaru replied, shaking his head slightly. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but stopped.

Temari's forehead creased. 'Are you okay? You look a bit out of it,' she said.

'Yeah, you… um…' Shikamaru waved his hand in a general gesture towards her attire.

Temari looked down. 'Oh. Does it bother you?'

Shikamaru gave a small snort. 'There's a beautiful half-naked woman in my kitchen looking for food. I wouldn't say it bothered me, more… distracted.'

'And you need to keep your mind on the case, right?' Temari laughed.

'That's the idea, yeah. The shower's free, if you want,' Shikamaru told her, a wry grin on her face.

'Oh, great. I won't be long,' Temari said, hopping through and gathering up her clothes. 'Thanks, though,' she grinned as she passed him.

'I can't even remember what I said,' he replied, eliciting a laugh from her.

'I promise I'll be decent when I come back,' she called.

'I'm supposed to be grateful, right?' he replied, moving into the kitchen.

'That's the idea, yeah!' was the laughing reply.

'I want to check in on Tsunade before we head down to the morgue,' Shikamaru told Temari as they walked into the station. 'She was quite close to Commander Sarutobi.'

'Whoever this bastard is, he's going to fry,' Temari replied.

'Oh yeah,' Shikamaru muttered darkly.

'You guys hot on the trail of the fucker, then?' Kiba called, sliding in front of them.

'As much as we can be with what little he's left us,' Shikamaru replied.

'I heard about Commander Sarutobi. Sucks like hell. Are you sure you can't pop a few rounds in him when you do catch up, call it self-defense?' Kiba asked.

'That would be a bastardisation of the justice system,' Shikamaru replied.

Kiba shrugged. 'Yeah, but we'd all feel so much better. And no-one in this station would push the issue very much.'

'We'll see what happens when the time comes,' Shikamaru told him.

Kiba looked Temari up and down, and a smirk grew on his face. 'Hey, Lieutenant Hotstuff, weren't you wearing that exact outfit yesterday?' he asked.

'Do you live in the foyer of this building?' Temari replied good-naturedly.

'Just waiting for you, babe,' Kiba returned as Shikamaru and Temari split paths from him.

'He's going to assume the worst, you realize,' Shikamaru remarked to Temari as they strode away from the grinning Lieutenant.

'Let him,' Temari replied.

'And he's going to tell the whole building his assumption as if it were fact,' Shikamaru continued.

'If they've got nothing better to talk about, then maybe we should make sure your friend doesn't become a liar,' Temari replied, flashing him a sly grin, and taking a couple steps down a different path to him. 'I'll meet you in your office, okay? Gonna see if I can guess your computer password,' she called, grinning, leaving Shikamaru staring after her suspiciously, momentarily distracted by the suggestion in her previous statement.

'Tsunade?' Shikamaru said, opening her office door cautiously.

Tsunade looked up tiredly, her eyes red and puffy.

'I'm sorry,' Shikamaru said quietly, closing the door behind him.

Tsunade gave a tired chuckle. 'Sorry that he died?' she asked wryly.

'Sorry I didn't catch the bastard before he did,' Shikamaru replied.

Tsunade waved at him to sit down. 'I've seen the case reports, Shikamaru. You have little to go on/ I don't blame you.'

'Konohamaru does,' Shikamaru said grimly.

'Konohamaru requested leave this morning. I've granted him as much time as he needs. He's always been a family man, and Hiruzen did raise him,' Tsunade said.

'A part of me agrees with him,' Shikamaru told her.

'Don't. You have no need to. You're a good cop, Shikamaru. One of the best this department has. You have absolutely no reason to blame yourself,' Tsunade assured him.

'He was your mentor. Your teacher,' Shikamaru said.

'As was Asuma to you,' Tsunade pointed out.

'But the situation is completely diff-' Shikamaru started.

'That doesn't make a difference. You didn't kill him. You didn't push him down the stairs. Listen to me, Shikamaru,' Tsunade said, leaning forward on her elbows. 'This isn't your fault. I don't blame you. No cop in their rational mind would blame you. No-one can rationally blame you.'

She leant back in her chair again. 'I don't blame you. But I do want you to get the hell out of my office and find this fucker.'

Shikamaru gave a nod. 'Understood.' He stood up.

'Shikamaru.' Tsunade's voice stopped him as he reached the door. 'Remember what I've said. As your friend and as your commander, I am telling you this. It's not your fault. There's nothing you could have done, no way you could have known. I don't need one of my best men to get morose on me and start blaming himself because one grief stricken man lashed out.'

Shikamaru paused. 'Thank you,' he said, and left the office.

'Did you manage to hack my computer?' Shikamaru asked as he strode into his office.

'No,' Temari replied, leaning back in his chair, with her feet on the desk. 'Turned it on, took a couple guesses, but didn't get anywhere.'

'You wouldn't,' Shikamaru said, squeezing behind her and leaning forward, his arms on either side of her, his fingers flying over the keyboard as he typed in his password.

'Your clue made no sense either,' Temari told him.

'It makes sense to me, not that I ever use it. My password is a seemingly random alphanumerical sequence,' Shikamaru told her, leaning on the edge of his desk as the computer desktop started up. 'Being a genius with total recall definitely makes my password protected accounts a lot more secure.'

'Most people just use the name of their dog,' Temari muttered.

Shikamaru shrugged, a small smile pulling at the corner of his mouth. 'I don't have a dog.'

Temari laughed. 'You know what I mean,' she said.

Shikamaru chuckled. 'Get out of my seat,' he told her as the computer pinged.

Temari spun around as he read the email.

'You needn't sit down again, though,' he said as she stood up, wobbling slightly. 'Autopsy's done. Sakura's waiting for us.'

'Let's go, then,' Temari said, blinking a couple times. 'Just give me a second. Haven't spun around on anything for a long time.' She shook her head to clear it.

'You done?' Shikamaru asked, smirking slightly.

'Yeah,' Temari replied, as he gestured for her to leave the room ahead of him, quickly locking his computer.

'Don't trust anyone, huh?' she remarked as he caught up with her outside the door.

'Some of my so-called friends have a very warped sense of humour. Which will only be heightened by you working here, sadly,' Shikamaru told her.

'A little laughter goes a long way in a death-filled job, doesn't it,' Temari sighed.

'Quite.'

'What have you got for me, Sakura?' Shikamaru called, entering the pristine morgue.

'Good morning to you too, Shikamaru,' Sakura replied sarcastically. 'Traces of chloroform in his airways, as with Asuka.'

'COD?' Shikamaru asked, wincing imperceptibly at the mention of Asuka's death.

'Broken neck,' Sakura informed them.

'From the fall?' Temari asked.

Sakura shook her head. 'I thought so, but the directionality of the fractures indicate that his neck was broken by someone twisting it with force. I also found finger-shaped bruises on his neck that support this theory,' she told them, pointing her finger at the cleaned neck.

Shikamaru and Temari leaned in to see where she was pointing.

'Quite small hands,' Temari commented, her brow furrowed.

Sakura nodded. 'It looks more like a woman's hand print than a man. I suppose it could be a very delicate man with slender fingers, but it looks more like a female hand print.'

'So we're looking for a woman with a navy blue car,' Temari muttered.

'My car's navy blue, but I can I assure you I didn't do it,' Sakura quipped.

'Really? I figured you for a lover of brighter colours,' Temari remarked, surveying the petite medical examiner.

'Because of the hair, right?' Sakura said.

'That did factor in,' Temari smiled.

'The car's a temporary situation, borrowed from a friend. Mine got totaled fairly recently, and I haven't found a replacement yet,' Sakura explained.

'That makes sense,' Temari commented.

'Back to the dead commander on the slab,' Shikamaru muttered. 'Was his neck snapped before or after he was shoved down the stairs?'

Sakura grimaced. 'After. With all that bleeding, the injuries sustained from the fall could hardly be post-mortem. But you already knew that, Shikamaru,' she said.

'I'd hoped I was wrong. Thanks, Sakura. You've been very helpful,' Shikamaru told her, giving her a smile.

Sakura looked faintly surprised, and turned to Temari. 'What did you do to him? He's all…' Sakura looked Shikamaru up and down. '… not snappy.'

Temari shrugged. 'I slapped some sense into him.'

Sakura smirked. 'So you didn't, I don't know, spend the night at his place?' she asked innocently.

'Have you been talking to Kiba?' Shikamaru demanded, and turned to Temari without waiting for an answer. 'See, I told you this would happen.'

'I heard you,' Temari told him.

'So you're not denying it?' Sakura asked cheekily.

'I did, but not in the way you're thinking. The case kept us up late, and I crashed on the couch, in a manner of speaking,' Temari explained.

'In a manner of speaking,' Sakura repeated.

'On a spare mattress, in the lounge,' Temari clarified.

'I am leaving this madness and going upstairs to solve a murder,' Shikamaru declared, 'Whether you come with or not is entirely up to you.' He gave a brisk wave and marched out of the morgue.

Temari sighed. 'I should probably follow,' she muttered.

'You know, I think the spending the night at his place might be infinitely more fun than slapping him. Unless you're into that sort of thing,' Sakura amended.

'Does he not get action very often or something?' Temari exclaimed, 'Because including you, that's two people who think I should sleep with him.'

'Is the other person Kiba?' Sakura inquired.

'No,' Temari replied.

'Oh. Then make that three people,' Sakura informed her. 'Wait- four.'

Temari raised an eyebrow. 'Who's the fourth?'

'The police shrink.' Sakura replied. 'Although I think she was thinking more in a friend capacity than psychologist when we were talking.'

'You guys were talking about me?' Temari asked wryly.

'More about Asuka and Shikamaru, but your name came up, yes,' Sakura admitted a little sheepishly.

'He's lucky to have friends who care about him as much as I've seen you guys all do,' Temari smiled. 'Anyway, I should go. Murderer to catch, you know.'

'See you,' Sakura said, giving her a warm smile.

'Finished nattering, have you?' Shikamaru commented idly as she slipped into his office.

'A couple minutes, loosen up, will you. She had something to tell me,' Temari replied, sitting in the chair she had claimed as hers.

'About the case?' Shikamaru asked.

Temari suppressed a smirk. 'Nah, just… girl talk.'

'More girl talk? What is it with women?' Shikamaru complained.

'Just forget it,' Temari told him, unable to hide a little grin of mirth.

'Okay. Onto the case. So it's a woman,' Shikamaru said.

'I think the nursery rhymes are important. She seems to want to fit as closely to the canon of the rhyme as possible,' Temari hypothesized.

Shikamaru leaned back and considered this. 'Go on,' he prompted her.

'Well, I think she'd hoped the fall down the stairs would kill Sarutobi, nice and simple, but it didn't, so she had to snap his neck. Finish him off in a way that could still be caused by the fall,' Temari explained.

'The nursery rhymes didn't say anything about drugging people either,' Shikamaru mentioned.

Temari waved a hand. 'Means to an end.'

'I'm never going to be able to look at children's rhymes again,' Shikamaru muttered.

'Maybe that's a path we can follow,' Temari suggested.

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. 'What, do you think Mother Goose is the murderer?'

Temari flashed a sarcastic smile. 'Ha. Funny. No, I was thinking more along the lines of… Who works closely with nursery rhymes?'

Shikamaru heaved a sigh. 'I don't know. Kindergarten teachers. Publishers. I don't know. Maybe it's just a nursery rhyme aficionado,' he suggested.

'Do you get those?' Temari asked doubtfully.

'You get all sorts,' Shikamaru replied, 'I see where you're going, but the problem is that nursery rhymes- especially the two that have been… dramatized, for want of a better word- are common knowledge. Every one knows them, off by heart. I don't even remember where I learnt them,' Shikamaru pointed out.

Temari groaned. 'You're right. There's probably not a person on earth who can't recite them from memory, even without total recall.'

'Some people might need a little prompting, but everyone knows them,' Shikamaru agreed.

'And the people who don't need any prompting are kids and parents, and while I'm no psychological profiler, I really don't think either of those would really do something like this,' Temari muttered.

'I think that's a safe bet,' Shikamaru replied.

'Well, now that you've totally shot that idea down, what else can we do?' Temari sighed.

'We have practically no leads. The paper the rhymes were written on was your average, run of the mill white printer paper, there wasn't any DNA found at either crime scene, no weapons or binding was use to possibly identify… We know that it's a woman, and that she drives a navy blue car- and that's not even confirmed, it's just a highly probable assumption,' Shikamaru declared frustratedly.

'This bitch is either really smart, or fucking lucky,' Temari said.

'Or she has a little smarts and a little luck, because a combination of the two can get a person far in life,' Shikamaru told her.

'Either way, we've got next to nothing. You can't get fingerprints from a bruise, right?' Temari asked helplessly, burying her face in her arms.

'If it could be done, Sakura would have already done it. She was probably wearing gloves,' Shikamaru replied.

'Don't medical examiners always wear gloves?' Temari mumbled, her voice muffled by her arms.

'I was referring to the perp,' Shikamaru told her.

There was a short pause. 'I knew that,' Temari's voice declared.

'Sure you did,' Shikamaru replied, pinching the bridge of his nose.

'Okay, so what else do we have?' Temari asked, raising her head from the table.

'Nothing, we've just gone over this,' Shikamaru reminded her.

'Look, I don't know, maybe we should just check on kindergarten teachers that might have had contact with- I don't know, did Commander Sarutobi ever pick Asuka up from kindergarten?' Temari asked helplessly.

'I think so,' Shikamaru said slowly, 'I mean, Hiruzen always loved his grandchildren, doted on them. He and Asuka spent a fair amount of time together, and Kurenai often was quite busy, so it stands to reason that Hiruzen fetched her from kindergarten more than a few times.'

'Maybe we should check there. See if there's… well, anything, really,' Temari said. 'I mean, kindergarten teachers are mostly women, aren't they?'

'Yeah, I'll- I mean, it's quite a good kindergarten- it's got a reputation for being safe, and it's got excellent references, but… well, right now, I'll take anything I can get,' Shikamaru said, then stood up, grabbing his jacket. 'Ready for a field trip?' he asked, a slight smile on his face.

Temari grinned in reply. 'Action's action, and we don't have anything better to do. Let's go,' she replied, standing up and following him out the door.

-TBC-

**A/N: This chapter was already getting quite long, so I figured let's end it here so I can get more chapter's out of this- I'm still not entirely sure how these chapters are working, but I'm figuring it out. ^^**

**But, the good news, is that, with the exception of a few minor details, I have the story planned out from hereonin, so it should flow nicely. I think the story might be finished within the week. Hopefully. Certainly, I'm on a roll now, and am probably going to go straight on to the next chapter. As for Oh Baby, the next chapter is eluding me slightly, as I'm not sure if I should conjure up some filler or skip a huge time gap, so if you're following that… help me out, will ya? **

**In other news, I am sitting at about 7000 words behind on NaNo, which is palatable enough to catch up on. Also, I am terrible at willpower, considering I spent a good hour or so reading Klaine (KurtBlaine, from glee?) fics, of which there were a few amusing ones. Also, Darren Criss is very funny, and I now can't wait until I turn 80 (okay, I can totally wait, but it's a big one) to become a wood-nymph. That would be from his interview on gleefandotcom (I think). Anyway. **

**Also, I have decided that I shouldn't write murder mysteries, because I'm really bad at planning. And while I know have the murderer and motive that was missing when I started, I have now come to the realization that they do an awful lot of sitting around because I left a distinct lack of leads and trails they could follow. As it looks now, the only suspect they'll have is the murderer. But we'll see how that pans out. Remind me never to write a murder mystery again, kay?**

**As horrifically unplanned as this is turning out to be, I hope you're still enjoying it, and I would love to know what you think!**


	12. Flirt

**.Flirt.**

'Nothing,' Temari said frustratedly, as they came out of the kindergarten a few hours later. 'Absolutely nothing.'

'And it took forever to get that nothing as well,' Shikamaru remarked.

'I know, there were just so many tears and so much drama, and kids really can't look after themselves, can they?' Temari muttered. 'Although, I didn't really like that brown-haired woman with the awful hospital green floral sack masquerading as dress. I think we should look into her more in depth, I got a bad vibe from her. I don't know, we could pull her in for official questioning, psyche eval, the works,' she said matter-of-factly.

Shikamaru chuckled. 'You just don't like her because she asked you to hold that kid,' he replied.

Temari shot him a deadpan look. 'That should be a perfectly viable sign of mental instability. Do I look like I know what to do with a kid?' she demanded.

'Aren't women naturally good with kids?' he said innocently.

'Now you're just being sexist and deliberately annoying,' she told him.

He laughed. 'Okay, so if we take that into consideration, then she's the only one who could raise any flags. And it's not her, I've already done a background check,' he replied.

Temari looked surprised. 'What? You've already done a background check on her? What, were your bad vibe bells also ringing? we're meant to share any suspicions in this case, you know, that's what partners do,' she informed.

He waved a hand, dismissing her comments. 'Nah, she was already working here when Asuka applied,' he said.

Temari raised an eyebrow. 'You did background checks on all the people that worked at the kindergarten your goddaughter was going to,' she clarified.

Shikamaru glanced at her. 'Yeah, so what. It's completely normal,' he she said, shrugging.

'Actually, I'm pretty sure most people trust the kindergarten with the security checks, and they simply check out the school,' Temari replied, a smile growing on her face.

'Well, it never hurts to make sure. You can't be too careful,' Shikamaru defended.

'Says the smoker. Right,' Temari deadpanned.

'Fat lot of good it all did in the end, anyway,' Shikamaru muttered, his face darkening.

Temari bit her lip and reached out a hand, squeezing Shikamaru's shoulder. 'It wasn't your fault. There wasn't anything you could've done,' she said quietly.

'How can you say-' Shikamaru started angrily.

'Rationally, you know I'm right,' Temari interrupted. 'You know that there is no way you could have known. You're just been stubborn, pigheaded and self serving, which serves no purpose except making you feel like crap. Stop beating yourself up over something that wasn't your fault.'

'But what if-' Shikamaru began again.

'What if the world spun backwards and dragons burst out from its crust,' Temari cut him off again. 'The world is full of what ifs. Life is full of what ifs. There's always going to be a part of you thinking _what if this happened _or _if only_. We can't get distracted by the what ifs and if onlys, we have to move on with our lives and do the best we with what has been served up to us on what is very often rusty platter,' Temari said simply.

Shikamaru remained silence, studying her. 'Thank you,' he said suddenly. 'I needed that.'

'It can't be easy, though,' Temari said quietly.

They stood in silence, before Temari tilted her head.

'Come here,' she said, holding out her arms. 'Hug.'

When Shikamaru simply raised his eyebrows and didn't move, she shook her head and took a few steps forward, giving him a hug.

Chuckling weakly, Shikamaru raised his arms and returned the hug. Temari drew back and smiled at him, looking satisfied.

'I thought you weren't the maternal type,' he remarked wryly.

'Don't need to be maternal to be a friend,' Temari replied. They shared a smile before Temari spoke again, opening the car door. 'Come on, let's get lunch. I'm hungry.'

'You have quite an appetite,' Shikamaru laughed, crossing over to the other side of the car.

'It's one o'clock. Lunch time,' Temari said in her defense, 'Maybe you're just used to women who pick at their food and are always on diet. There are those of us out there who enjoy a good meal, you know.'

Shikamaru chuckled. 'I never said there was anything wrong with it,' he remarked, pulling on to the road.

Temari gave a nod. 'Good. Because there isn't.'

'Do you have your wallet with you this time, or am I going to have to pay again?' Shikamaru teased, causing Temari to stick her tongue at him. He laughed.

'It's a wonder you don't get on with kids, you're practically one yourself,' he chuckled.

'I'm going to ignore that,' Temari said airily, looking out the window pointedly.

Shikamaru glanced sideways at her and relaxed in his seat.

'Once this whole messy affair is over, do you maybe want to go out?' he asked suddenly.

Temari's eyes widened and her head shot around to look at him. 'Where did that some from?' she said, the words slipping from her lips in surprise.

Shikamaru shrugged, a small smirk curling the corner of his mouth. 'You're an interesting woman. Beautiful and smart, too, which never hurts,' he added, never quite looking at her, preferring to watch the road.

'You've not even known me for four days,' Temari pointed out.

'And in those four days we've spent almost every waking minute together,' Shikamaru countered, 'And as distracted as I've been, I've noticed enough to decide I'd like to get to know more about you.'

Temari snorted. 'Get to know more of me, more like. Looking for some hands-on learning too, I'll bet,' she muttered.

Shikamaru shrugged. 'If it comes to that, yeah. I mean, that's not my main aim, even though I don't doubt it will happen.'

Temari raised an eyebrow, eyeing him in amusement. 'Oh you don't, do you?'

Shikamaru smirked. 'Well, we're both obviously attracted to each other, so…' he trailed off.

Temari gave a shout of laughter. 'Obviously?' she exclaimed, 'When have I given any indication that I'm attracted to you?'

'Well, it's not so much what you've done,' Shikamaru explained in a matter-of-fact manner, 'But I'm sure you're aware that pupil dilation is a sign of sexual attraction…'

'My pupils have not been dilating!' Temari cried, laughing at his sheer nerve.

'Well, you wouldn't be able to see them, now would you?' Shikamaru returned smartly.

Temari just stared at him, her mouth gaping and a huge grin on her face, small bouts of laughter escaping her. She looked back at the road, biting her bottom lip and shaking her head.

'I honestly for the type to be awkward when asking a girl out,' she told him, unable to stop grinning.

Shikamaru inclined his head. 'I have many hidden talents,' he replied, glancing at her and throwing her a little wink.

Temari's eyebrows flew up into her hairline. 'Oh, look at you, all confident like,' she remarked, looking him up and down.

He smirked again. 'I can assure you my confidence isn't misplaced,' he replied.

Temari gave a yelp of laughter. 'This is a fascinating aspect of your character, Lieutenant,' she told him.

Shikamaru chuckled. 'So how about it, then?'

Temari's smile faded. 'I don't date people I work with,' she said apologetically.

'That's a very sensible habit,' Shikamaru replied, completely defying her expectation when he simply grinned a little wider. 'But once this over we won't be working together any more, will we?' he pointed out.

'Huh.' Temari considered this.

'You're a gorgeous, fascinating woman, Temari, and I'd hate myself if I let this opportunity to get to know you slip away,' Shikamaru said, plying on the compliments.

Temari's lips curved into a small smile, and she tried to keep it small with moderate success. 'Well, when you put it that way, I suppose I can tentatively agree to the arrangement,' she replied.

Shikamaru gave a lopsided smile. 'That's good enough for me,' he said, and pulled in at the restaurant.

'This isn't the date though, Casanova,' Temari warned him as she opened her door.

'Of course not,' Shikamaru agreed, and leaned in towards her, so that their lips were centimeters apart. Temari felt her face heat up despite herself, and Shikamaru smirked, his eyes twinkling directly into hers. His mouth opened slightly and she could feel his breath lightly on her lips.

'I'd never date someone I work with,' he said in a rumbly whisper, sending heat shooting like an arrow into the pit of Temari's stomach, and grinned when she closed her eyes and bit her lip, looking slightly pained and beet red.

'Dilated pupils,' he said, as he climbed out of the car.

'Shut up,' Temari retorted.

-TBC-

**A/N: Shikamaru, what has gotten into you? I'm sure I didn't program that into your character! And why does it suit you so well? **

**I know the chapter is short, but that's because if I put what happens in the next chapter in this one as was originally planned you'd get mood whiplash in the nth degree, as if there wasn't enough of that already. But I'm starting on it now, so it won't be too long.**

**That whole flirting thing was not in the originally plan. I was going to have a simple date discussion and the scene just ran away from me and all that inserted itself in there (oo-er) and it was totally not my fault. I blame Darren Criss and his amazing voice murmuring in my ear. So yesterday I downloaded Chris Colfer and Darren Criss singing 'Baby, It's Cold Outside', and it's currently playing on repeat, except my one earphone goes funny and static-y when I plug it into the computer so I only have one earphone in and it happens to be the one in which Darren's voice is the main one, so I'm pretty much only hearing Darren, and honestly, even if you don't know who Darren Criss is, even if you don't watch glee, just do yourself a favour and download this song and listen to Darren (he's the one convincing the other to stay). Nothing against Chris, he also did an amazing job, but Darren… at one point he goes 'ooh, your lips are delicious' and just the way he says 'ooh' does funny things to my tummy, it's just so deliciously distracting.**

**And now because of this song I really want to read bread-and-butter fluff that's just a bit suggestive, and those are kinda hard to find (I think) so I think I'm writing it, and… I'm writing a murder mystery, it really doesn't have a place there. I also really feel like writing HP fanfiction and/or meet a British person who can just talk to me all day, because I adore British accents and turn of phrase, like I heard Alex Day describe Darren (yes, Criss) as 'proper famous' now that he's on glee, and it was just so amazing. And he really is proper famous now- Darren, that is- he went to the NYC Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 premiere and he was listed as a Celebrity Guest, and he was on the red carpet and was interviewed and everything, and he was wearing his Gryffindor tie and it was just so amazing, and he was like 'If I meet Dan tonight, I think my head would explode, so I'm thinking I should avoid him because I like my head not exploding. If you see blood running from my ears, you'll know what happened.' And there's shots of him in the same shot as Tom Felton and then Rupert Grint and it's just like 'There's Harry Freakin' Potter,' and I joined a facebook group yesterday that summed up my feelings perfectly: I feel like a Proud Mama of Darren Criss. To quote Alex Carpenter, 'Our little Harry Potter is all grown up.'**

…**Okay. Rant over. Please review, it would mean the world.**


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